HOLY FUDGE EXPLOSION OF FOLLOWS AND FAVORITES! Why do you guys like this so much?! This dinky little fic isn't even my main priority! It's just this…thingalingdingding that I never expected to get any recognition for, but…wow. Thank you so much! I'll try to update it on a somewhat regular basis, probably between chapters of my Hetalia fanfic.
ME NO OWNY MEGATRONY!
… Now I want rigatoni.
"Hey, it's time to get up."
Words not attached to a speaker drifted through the dark void of my sleeping mind, my exhaustion jumbling the sounds around until the words had no significant meaning.
"Yoo hoo, time to get up sweetie."
I vaguely registered a female voice, and my eyelids fluttered briefly without sight, not at all conscious. While the words reached me this time, the situation in which an adult woman would be speaking to me in such a motherly tone did not make any sense, so I assumed myself to be dreaming.
A slight electrical charge startled me. It tickled.
"ACK!" I yelped as I jerked awake and off the seat to land of the car floor with an unladylike "Oof!"
"Oops, didn't mean to scare ya." The radio cracked. Immediately I knew where I was. I don't get how in books they always talking about not knowing where you are at first when you wake up; as soon as I'm even mildly awake I know where I am.
"I wasn't scared!" I jumped to my defense as I picked myself up off the floor. "You just…startled me, is all."
"Jumpy, are we?" Bumblebee commented.
"Hey now, anybody would- Wait, is it time?" I asked anxiously as I sat back down on back seat.
"Affirmative." Came the reply. "You ready?"
Unable to keep the grin from spreading across my face in anticipation, I replied, "So ready."
With a series of Cybertronian sounds that fascinated me to no end and a few flashes of energy in light form, Bumblebee's engine came to life. He tried to be quiet, but the age and make of the car made it hard to do anything below-the-radar volume-wise. So of course his engine revved numerous times before Bumblebee was even able to begin rolling down the driveway.
"Ah that's my car! Oh NOOOO!" I heard Sam scream above us. Hoping he wouldn't be able to see me at night with Bumblebee's tinted windows, I leaned over to the left window and looked up at him. However I was only able to catch a glimpse of him before Bumblebee turned, tires screeching, into the street.
"You might wanna get going," I warned Bumblebee, looking out the back window as he drove away at a leisurely pace. "He's coming."
"After me?-Doubt it-Call 911-more likely."
I didn't have to answer because at that moment Sam came out of his driveway, pedaling his bike like a madman, and pursued us via the sidewalk.
"I stand corrected." Bumblebee said as he accelerated, but stayed within the speed limit, which allowed Sam to catch up.
"C'mon, where ya goin with my car, buddy? Where ya goin?!" I heard him say as he rode parallel to us.
Can he see me now? I wondered as I watched him dial on his cellphone and ride his bike simultaneously. I decided that, while he was closer now, he was a bit busy to be noticing little girls' faces in his stolen car's window. Since the backseat had no seatbelts, I shuffled over into the right seat to better watch Sam in his desperate attempts to regain his 'stolen' car.
"Hello? 911 emergency! My car's been stolen!" Sam yelled into his phone as he drove his bike onto the street as Bumblebee out…outran? Outdrove? Whatever, him. "I'm in pursuit! Right, I need all units! The whole-the whole squadron! Bring everyone! No no no, don't ask me questions, alright? My father's the head of the neighborhood watch."
When Bumblebee began to decelerate, I realized and was mildly surprised that he was stopping for a stop sign. Well he has been here since 2003, I thought to myself as I scooted back into the middle. Pulling my legs up onto the seat, I kneeled on them and turned around so that I could watch Sam out the back window without having to stay twisted around. It only makes sense that he would have learned our laws.
Sam gaped at his phone "Ya think?" He yelled into it, not noticing Bumblebee's slowing speed and continuing to ride forward. "Get me some help!" The second he looked up was the same second that Bumblebee came to a complete stop, basically right in front of him.
With a bump that was too comical not to laugh at, Sam ran his bike into Bumblebee's rear and promptly fell. I tried to muffle my laughter as Bumblebee started forward again, using the possibility of Sam being hurt to sober myself. Thankfully he looked undaunted as he quickly mounted his bike again and resumed his chase. As Bumblebee gained speed, Sam barked, "Cops! Now!" into his cellphone before pocketing it and pursuing in earnest.
That's when he saw me. Or at least I think he did anyway; he seemed to be looking right at me. The second we met eyes I dropped in the seat. I didn't really know if it was a bad thing for him to see me, but I didn't want to take any chances.
In not much time, we reached the cement factory, and while Sam was looking pretty winded, he showed no signs of giving up.
"Does this guy ever quit?" Bumblebee's radio whirred as he pulled to a quick stop in front of gate, the railroad crossing bells dinging from behind it.
"Not really, which is a good thing-Whoa!" I clutched the seat in surprise as Bumblebee revved his engine, his tires spinning in the dirt. Disregarding the stop sign posted on the flimsy gate, he burst through it and just barely made it across the tracks before a train blocked Sam's path, not that it would stop him for long though.
The Autobot came to a sudden stop and opened the door beside me. "Gotta do this quick." He said, and I complied by exiting as quickly as I could, which involved a bit of tripping into the dirt, but I quickly reassembled myself, stood up and stepped back so I could watch him reassemble himself.
Bumblebee began to transform.
So many things were happening at once, it was hard to all take in. Gears shifting and popping into place, wheels turning before separating, clicking, banging, clanging, the shing of sharp metal scraping against metal, parts breaking up and reforming in other places, and the combined motion of climbing in height. Climbing, climbing, climbing, till it reached somewhere around seventeen or eighteen feet, where it stopped.
And all of it happened in about five seconds.
Two bright blue ocular lenses turned down towards my gaping, wide-eyed, tilted back face of awe and fascination.
This is so much better than HD.
"What?" Bumblebee inquired via radio, along with a very human-like cock of his head and ridges that looked a lot like eyebrows came together in confusion.
Realizing that I was staring, I shook my head. "Sorry," I said, then looked back up at him. "It's just…" A smile broke onto my face. "Wow."
What would have been cheekbones on a human raised a bit on Bumblebee's face in what might have been a smile, then he motioned with a four-fingered hand for me to follow as he turned and walked towards some sort of tower. I had to run to keep up with him, even though his pace was relatively slow, but I didn't really care. My grin would absolutely not go away. I gazed at the Transformer, completely transfixed and nearly giddy with excitement.
When Bumblebee turned on his beacon, I knew it shined over Sam briefly before it was directed up into the sky. I couldn't even begin to imagine how powerful it was, to travel up through the atmosphere and all the way up into outer space. And how did it go unnoticed by the government? Or did it? I shivered at the thought of what was to come, and instead focused my attention on the symbol of the beam. Caught on a cloud, it was actually possible to see the details of the Autobot insignia in the sky, just like in Batman. Or Larryboy.
After about twelve seconds, Bumblebee directed the beam down again, once again shining over Sam before he turned it off. Then he turned towards me.
"They're coming?" I breathed.
He nodded. Then, very carefully, he crouched down to me, coming so close that I could pick out individual gears and wires in his face. What on a human would have been a nose, a jaw, and the different mechanical parts that moved just like muscles. Even his eyes were detailed; the wide, circular metal surrounding the Autobot-blue iris, with even a dark hole like some sort of a pupil in the middle. No mouth though. Not because he couldn't talk; no, it was the design of his facial features that either obscured his mouth, or he didn't have one like the other Autobots.
As he leaned in very close, I realized it was my Autobot insignia necklace that Bumblebee was looking at. His eyes stared at it necklace intently, the blue light they emitted reflecting off its shiny surface. It occurred to me that this was probably the first time he'd been able to get a good look at it; I doubt he could have seen it too well in vehicle mode. Carefully, he extended one finger, which was thicker than my arm, and as softly as possible, touched the symbol. Metal met metal with a small clink. Then his optics met my eyes.
"One of us?" he asked.
I nodded solemnly. "Always."
Bumblebee's expression turned to one of sorrow. "Not safe." He said.
In a hushed tone, as if I didn't dare to say it any louder, I replied, "I know."
Just then our heads both turned at the sound of dogs barking, which rang clearly through the night air.
"Sam's in trouble!" I exclaimed, turning back desperately to Bumblebee.
With a hasty nod the Autobot wasted no time transforming back into the 'piece-o'crap-Camaro' (Don't tell him I said that.) He opened the door to me, I leaped in and we sped off to save the man in distress.
It didn't take us long to find him; we just had to follow the sound of barking dogs and Sam's squeaky voice. Finding a weak point in the dome thingy Sam and the dogs were in, Bumblebee drove right through the wall and began spinning furiously around the little island of tires and barrels where Sam was stranded, headlights blaring and honking loudly. It did a good job of scaring the dogs away, but unfortunately it freaked out Sam quite a bit too.
"Whoa!" I exclaimed, the g-force of Bumblebee's donuts sucking me into the wall of the right seat, but I was fine. Struggling to get to the other side to see Sam, I crawled across the seat once the g-force had died down a bit and gazed out the left window.
Unfortunately, that's where Sam happened to be looking. No denying it-This time he saw me for sure. "Please! Please don't kill me! I'm sorry!" He directed his pleading at me, then he threw his keys on the ground before making a break for it as Bumblebee circled wider and slower, making an opening for Sam. "Take the keys! I don't wan'um! Car's yours!" He yelled as he bolted off his safety-island and out of the dome.
Before Bumblebee could follow him, I exclaimed, "Cops! Don't go that way! He'll be fine, but you gotta go!"
Taking heed to go as quietly as an old, rusty car can, Bumblebee listened to my warning and drove out in the opposite direction that Sam went. Carefully skirting around the edges, we were able to avoid the cops all together and get out of the cement factory without being noticed.
"Whew!" I let out a sigh of relief as I sank down into the back seat. "Cops aren't after us. Good good." With another sigh, I asked, "So, what do we do now?"
"I was hoping you could-give some insight-as to that." Bumblebee answered.
I let out another puff of air. "Well, Sam's gonna be at the police station for a while, I don't know how long, but the sun'll be up by the time he gets out. Then his dad'll get him a chocolate shake, then he'll take him home. Then Sam will sleep for a while, I don't know how long, then he'll wake up when his mom's going shopping, and his dad won't be home, and Sam'll be awake, so then you can go get him, and again I don't know how long that'll be."
My ramblings of what was to come were met with silence at first, then the radio spliced together a message. "I've never heard-a report-so detailed-but not."
"Sorry," I said with a small laugh, but my apology was sincere. "The time is all weird. I mean, I guess I should be looking at the movie, the time's super screwed up there, but…Argh!"
"Are you okay?" Bumblebee asked after my outburst.
"Yeah, sorry," I replied, holding my head in my hands, my previous exhaustion coming back now that the adrenaline rush had faded away. "It's just…a lot to keep track of. And with tomorrow coming, it's…it's…"
"Hey," The radio said with a voice that was almost sympathetic. "It'll be okay-I'll keep tabs on-his house-Rollin' round the city-Keep a low profile-So why don't you-go back to sleep-I'll wake you-anything important happens-Tomorrow sounds-it's gonna be big-Am I right?"
"Yeah," I said as I laid back down on the seats once more, fresh out of protests to give. "Yeah, it is."
"Sleep easy then-Nothin' to worry about-I gotcha."
"Okay, but be careful; the police will be looking for Sam's car." Wondering just how many times I was going to fall asleep in Bumblebee's vehicle mode, I made myself comfortable in the old leather. The rumbling of his engine, as sputtery as it was, was comforting in both its white noise and slight vibrations which could be felt through the warm seats. "Thanks," I mumbled as I closed my eyes, knowing that it would be a while before I would be able to sleep again.
"Don't mention it."
When I woke up in the morning, it surprisingly wasn't to a disaster. I'd figured with the day that was ahead of me, certainly I'd have some sort of rude awakening or another. But no, I opened my eyes to find myself comfortably curled on the leather seats, the dull roar of the engine still rumbling soothingly through the frame of the car, and the yellow sun shining through the windows and onto my face. I blinked a few times, somewhat confused by my peaceful surroundings, before arching my back in some sort of a compressed stretch.
"Good morning star shine! The Earth says hello!" said Willy Wonka, confusing me for a nanosecond, before I realized that it was Bumblebee's radio.
"Mm," I made a noise as I rubbed my eyes. As I've said before, I'm not a morning person. Peering out from behind my hands, I glanced at the digital clock up front. If I'd been in a cartoon, my eyes would've bugged out from between my fingers. "Please tell me your clock's wrong, or that that's in the AM's."
"Nope.-Late sleeper huh?"
That was putting it mildly. Somehow I'd managed to sleep well into the afternoon of the next day. How the heck had I done that? Especially since none of the physically demanding stuff had even come yet. "Yeah… Sorry, I don't know how I slept that long! I didn't mean for you to have to carry me around all day."
"No problem-No action yet-anyway."
"Well that's good." I sat up and answered while stretching, my arms over my head and my legs down the middle of the car. "It did feel nice to sleep in. My foster parents never let me sleep in; now I see why."
"I am sorry—what are foster parents?"
"They don't have those on Cybertron?" I asked. "Well, they're people who take care of you when your real parents can't, or don't, or shouldn't."
"I see.—They keep you until—you're old enough—to live on your own?"
I twisted my lip a bit. "No, that's being adopted; when you get a new family and they keep you. When you're a foster kid, like me, you're not that lucky. You don't get to stay with one family; the system makes you go from foster family to foster family, but they're not yours. They keep you till either the system moves you or they can't keep you…or get tired of you." I added quietly, then spoke up again. "If they like you enough, they can adopt you though."
"But you're still-in the system."
I nodded, trusting that somehow Bumblebee could see me.
"That's sad."
I shrugged. "Not many of us get adopted. Most foster kids are just passed around till they turn eighteen. Then we're kicked out on our own."
"How old are you?"
"Ten."
"Eight years-to go—That's a long time."
"… Yeah."
"Still lots of time—to be—adopted."
I shook my head. "No, I've been through quite a few families, and no one's taken a liking to me yet. I'll probably have to wait."
"Why should you—have to wait—any more than anyone else?"
No one wants me, I answered in my head. No one likes me. No one wants me in their family. I recalled gazing at children with real families; a memory that went back as far as I could remember. I'll never have what they have, I'd thought to myself every time. No one wants to take care of me, to teach me the valuable lessons in life, to make sure I feel safe. No one will ever want me for a daughter, a sister. No one wants to love me.
"I just don't seem to fit anyone." Was my answer.
Maybe Bumblebee sensed that this was a sensitive topic and didn't want to push me, or maybe his interest in this subject was just waning. Some small part of me secretly wanted the former, but the rest of me assumed the latter. Whatever the reason, his next question was, "Where do you live—with your—current—foster family?"
"Actually I was right between switching families." I informed him. "I've spent most of my life in Minnesota, but I was being flown all the way to San Francisco, California."
"That's not where—I found you.—How'd you get here?"
I paused, thinking over how to word this. "Well, I'm not really sure-" I was interrupted by a sudden (and loud) grumbling sound that came from my abdomen, along with a rolling, grinding feeling.
"What was that?" Bumblebee asked.
"Heh," I said, wrapping my arms around my middle, a bit embarrassed. "Just me. Sometimes humans' stomachs growl when we're hungry, that's all."
"Hungry?—Sorry—Ain't got no food." He replied.
Sucking in my lips in thought, I looked out the window for ideas. Normally I'd just brush my hunger off as a non-necessity, but I knew I'd need the energy, and it'd probably be a while before I'd have the chance to refuel again. "Well, I've got some money left… Oh! Can you pull in here? I'm not old enough, so no using the drive thru… If you park and wait a minute, I'll be right back."
Complying, Bumblebee rolled up into the parking lot of the local Mickey D's, stopping by the door to let me out. Shouldering my tote bag and fingering what was left of the $100 inside, I stepped out, pushed the doors open and entered the fast food joint. After looking over my shoulder to make sure that Bumblebee had parked, I went to the bathroom since I knew I probably wouldn't get another chance for a while, then headed up to the counter.
"HelloandwelcometoMcDonald'showmayIhelpyou." The teenage girl mumbled all at once, examining her nails.
I swallowed nervously. I never liked ordering food. Sometimes it was too loud to hear what the person was saying, sometimes when I got out money it got all crumpled in my hands or I didn't give enough, and sometimes it was hard just talking to an older person I didn't know. Usually my foster parent would order for me, but I had no one to do that for me now, so I took a deep breath and said, "I'd like two McChickens, just the sandwiches, a large fry, and a cup for water…please."
The employee looked away from her nails and down at me, emphasis on the down. "Where are your parents, kid?"
"They're in the car." I said quickly.
"Which car?"
"That one," I turned and pointed to Bumblebee, who thankfully had parked at an angle that obscured the driver's seat.
The lady still looked suspicious. "Why didn't they come in with you, or use the drive thru?"
I shrugged, inwardly panicking because I was out of excuses. I've never liked lying, and I'm no good at it either, especially when put on the spot.
Thankfully, the employee gave a bored sigh and plugged my order into the machine.
"For here or to go?"
"What?"
"For here, or to go?"
"For here-I mean to go!"
"Which is it, kid?"
"To go."
When she told me the amount, I grabbed the money I had in my fist, wadding it all up of course, before finding and pulling out a five dollar bill in a record amount of fumbling and shuffling before handing it to the lady.
As soon as I'd gotten my change (which I almost walked away without) and taken my bag, I left as quickly as I could, feeling extra stupid. I have this weird thing where when I'm nervous I get really, really dumb. I don't understand simple questions, and it takes me extra-long to do stuff, not to mention with lots of screw-ups. This is why first impressions didn't usually go too well for me, and why I didn't care much for meeting new people.
Forcing myself to not run, I walked briskly across the parking lot and back to Bumblebee. Thankfully, he let me open the door myself so that if anyone was watching they wouldn't see it pop open on its own. Taking care not to tip the bag or my drink, I quickly got in and sat back down with a sigh of relief, forcing myself to not think about how stupid I had just been.
"Whacha got there?" the radio asked as Bumblebee pulled out back onto the highway.
Situating myself so that my back was against the right side of the car and stretching my legs out on the seat in front of me with the bag on my lap, I tried not to drool over the smell of its contents. "Two McChickens, a large fry and water." I answered, reaching in for said food.
"Whazat?"
Why does he care? I wondered. Is he really curious about human food? Then again, I know I'd be interested about everything if I ever met an alien…and I am, but now's not the time. "Well," I said as I unwrapped my first sandwich. "A McChicken is a sandwich, which means that it's chicken, or, well, it's supposed to be chicken. I heard most of it is pink slime but-Ew! I don't wanna think about that! Anyway, 'chicken' that's been fried in lots of grease, lettuce and mayo between two bread buns. Then fries," I took out a golden finger of wonder and pushed it into my mouth. "Are heavenly strips of potatoes cooked in fry oil and coated in salt. And water is just water."
"Sounds—messy—Grease and salt—not good for the upholstery."
I giggled. "Don't worry, I promise I won't get any on you." To prove my point, I quickly licked the end of each of my fingertips and then wiped them off with one of the napkins I'd grabbed on the way out.
"What else do they have?"
"Mostly beef, also some bacon, more chicken, and a little bit of fish." I answered. "There's lots of grease-fried stuff in there. And just about everything's coated in a layer of salt, which I love."
"That doesn't seem—too healthy."
"It's not, so don't tell Ratchet!"
The engine rumbled in funny way. Kinda like a chuckle… Nah. "He'll—find out eventually."
"Shhhhhh," I said pointedly, consuming my fries without actually taking the box out of the bag. It minimized messiness.
"Do you ever get—other stuff?"
"Sometimes, but this is my favorite order, so I get it a lot. It's cheaper than getting a meal, I get two sandwiches instead of one, a large fry instead of a medium, plus I don't have to pay for pop since I don't get it anyway. Oh, pop is what you call soft drinks in Minnesota, but in California people call it soda. It's like this flavored, fizzy liquid that everyone likes."
"So why don't you—get some?"
"Well… See, pop is made with tons of sugar and caffeine, and both give humans energy. And in some people, they…um…give them too much energy. So I try to stay away from it." Thinking that such a subject was probably boring the giant alien robot, at that point I focused on eating my food in earnest to keep myself from talking.
"That was fast." Bumblebee commented once I'd finished both my sandwiches and all of the fries (after searching the bottom of the bag for 'bonus fries') in what I'll admit was a pretty short amount of time.
"I hadn't eaten since I'd had those bogus peanuts on the plane yesterday." I answered before sucking the salty, greasy remains off my fingers, making small sounds of pleasure as I did so.
"That's so bad for you—how can you eat it?" Bumblebee asked.
"It tastes really good," I answered as I dried my fingers for the last time on a napkin. "Salt is just about the tastiest thing on the planet, in my opinion at least." I sighed as I wadded up the napkin, sucked up the last drops of water from my cup, then threw it all into the bag and crumbled it up. "Anyway, thanks for letting me get some food Bee-Oh, sorry, can I call you Bee?"
"Sure you can." Bee answered as he stopped for an intersection. "Now what—can I call you?"
That's funny, I hadn't told him yet? "Well, my name is-Wait that's Sam's mom!" I exclaimed when I saw her drive perpendicular to us, thankfully not noticing that it was her son's stolen car she'd just passed. "Sam's awake and home alone now, so you can go get him!"
"Roger that." Once the light had turned green, Bumblebee headed off in the direction that Sam's mom had come from. As he did, I began to coil the straps of my tote bag around my sweaty hands subconsciously. This is it, I thought, my heart rate beginning to increase already. This is when it all picks up; when the big stuff starts to happen. All the dangerous stuff. It'll be nonstop from here. Ready for this?
God, keep me safe.
Lots of my writing this time, hope it wasn't too lame XP Sort of a calm-before-the-storm thing is what I was going for.
Idk why I'm keeping the main character's name hidden-it's not like it's a major plot point or even special. Whatever.
Since most of you probably haven't noticed, I'll be using some stuff from the Transformers book by Alan Dean Foster too, since it's got some good stuff in it.
To any of you who follow my Hetalia fanfic, don't worry, I'm not changing priorities, but I have access to this book for only a month or so, unless I can get it on the Kindle. Since it's a library rental, I'd like to get as much use out of it as I can before it has to be returned, and I'd appreciate your patience (which of course you've already shown in huge amounts). Also, gotta write where the muse is at, am I right?
Review plz! Feedback is always a good thing. As long as you're polite, you can even tell me what you don't like about my writing. I don't mind constructive criticism. Of course I don't mind compliments either ^J^